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Bill would exempt guns, ammunition made in Oklahoma from federal regulations

Published On: Feb 21 2013 10:17:49 AM CST

OKLAHOMA CITY -

The Oklahoma Firearms Freedom Act was unanimously approved by the House Public Safety Committee Wednesday.

House Bill 2021 would exempt guns or ammunition made in the state from federal regulations, but specifies that to qualify for the exemption the guns must be clearly marked as “Made in Oklahoma” and kept within state boundaries.

“The Second Amendment is clear, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,” said Rep. Sean Roberts, the author of HB 2021. “The federal government should not interfere with that amendment or how a state wants to administer that right within its boundaries. We must, as a state, protect this amendment and the entire Bill of Rights, because the founders wanted the states to have control and not the federal government.”

State Rep. John Bennett, another one of the bill’s authors, said state lawmakers have been flooded with requests to resist further federal regulation of Second Amendment rights.

“My constituents have phoned me, emailed me and talked to me in person,” said Bennett, R-Sallisaw. “Oklahomans generally support the position of the National Rifle Association, which is that mentally-healthy, law-abiding citizens should not be restricted in their right to carry a firearm. Our legislation exempts guns and ammunition produced and sold locally from federal regulations.”

Bennett said he and several lawmakers have sent letters to gun manufacturers inviting them to Oklahoma.

“Additionally, I have joined Reps. Sean Roberts, Dustin Roberts, John Enns, Dan Kirby and R.C. Pruitt in signing and we sent a letter requesting numerous gun manufacturers come to Oklahoma. We have sent them a copy of HB2021 as well as touted our pro-Second Amendment laws we have in this state, as well as the citizens’ support, to ask these companies in other states to move out of their anti-gun states and move here to Oklahoma. Most recently we sent a letter to MagPul Industries in Boulder, Colo. We are courting these companies to relocate to Oklahoma and create hundreds if not thousands of jobs,” Bennett said.

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